Western Cape Branch

After the Genealogical Society of South Africa was founded in 1964 on the farm Joostenberg in the then Cape Province the Society first functioned as a nationwide organization.

On June 4, 1986, the Western Cape established their own branch of the Society .Dave Mitchell was the first chairman. The branch serves the Peninsula, West Coast, Boland and Overberg. Membership however is not limited to these areas.

The Western Cape branch is a genealogically active group and meet every second Saturday of the month at SASNEV (Suid-Afrikaanse Sentrum vir Nederland en Vlaandere), 4 Central Square, Pinelands, Cape Town. Meetings usually involves a speaker on a topic of interest and then socializing afterwards. Sometimes trips to historic sites are also undertaken. The branch also has a branch library that may be consulted by the members that is also accomodated at SASNEV.

The branch publish the quarterly, Capensis, distribute a quarterly newsletter, has a Facebook page and several interesting activities are undertaken, eg the Cemetery project, workshops and exhibitions by exhibition team. These activities have won some of the branch members numerous awards.

Good cooperation also exists among others with, The Genealogical Institute of South Africa (GISA); Huguenot Association of South Africa (HASA); the Drakenstein Heemkring; the Western Cape Archives and Records Service, Tygerberg Museum, the Cape Town Family History Society and Cape Town Family Research Forum.